No one seriously questions that jails in America are dangerous. Yet the Trump administration recently signed an executive order to punish jurisdictions that do not incarcerate people accused of misdemeanors and lower-level crimes while they await trial. In this most recent draconian attempt to “make our cities safe again,” Trump plans to withhold federal funding from local and state governments that allow nonviolent offenders to go home and to work while they await trial.

This order does not improve public safety; it endangers more people. Public safety includes more than the free. It includes those of us who are incarcerated. Our government has a responsibility to ensure the safety, rights and dignity of people detained, whether awaiting trial or after a conviction. We abandon this oblig

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